Anthony's stacked team featured All-Stars Chris Paul and LeBron James— who was booed by the sell-out crowd nearly every time he touched the ball. Despite the cold reception, James scored a game-high 43 points, with 15 rebounds.
Houston Rockets point guard Kyle Lowry— a home-grown talent and former Villanova Wildcat — led Philly with 34 points. We just wanted to play team ball," said Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans, who hails from nearby Chester, Pa.
The game was the brainchild of Phoenix Suns forward Hakim Warrick, a Philadelphia native and once a teammte of Anthony's at Syracuse. "I know how passionate the city of Philadelphia is about basketball," Warrick said before the game. Team Philly jumped out to an early lead, as Team Melo trailed by more than 20 points in the first quarter.
Philly's final run was aided by 76ers guard Lou Williams, who finished 10-for-17 with 31 points. Though not a local product, Williams is close with many of the Team Philly players and signed on to counter the star-power of 'Melo's squad. The Philadelphia crowd was also happy to see one of the city's budding stars in action.
Williams joked with his teammates in the locker room after the game. Williams concluded. A charity game pitted Team Philly, comprising mostly N.B.A. role players and marginal starters who grew up in the area, against Team Melo and its threesome of league royalty: Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Chris Paul.
Despite the talent deficit, Team Philly won, 131-122, before a crowd that filled each of the arena’s four corners. “You’ve got to play hard.” Many of the area’s more recent successes played for the local team Sunday night, like Warrick, Lowry and Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings.
Some fans took particular relish in a victory without star players. Heath smiled.
James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul couldn't lead their team back from a dreadful start, as Team Philly beat Melo's stars of Baltimore 131-122 on Sunday night at the Palestra.
You're playing in Philly and in all type of sports, basketball, football, baseball, anything, you know how Philly fans get."
"So games like this, it's fun. James and Paul left without speaking to reporters.
Evans finished with 18 points and 18 rebounds, and Warrick added 19 points and 12 boards.
The passionate Philly fans booed James when he came onto the floor and even louder during pregame introductions, and they were delighted when the local team threatened to run the All-Stars off the floor in the opening minutes. James had only four points in the period.
The Melo team is based in Baltimore, but Anthony went outside his city to find James (Ohio) and Paul (North Carolina).
Both teams warmed up in shirts reading "Basketball Never Stops" -- but of course it has this summer in the NBA. At halftime, organizers presented Anthony and Warrick a check for $25,000 to build a basketball court for their cities.
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